Mr James Sim, Chairman of Tanjong Katong Secondary School Advisory Committee

Mrs Priscillia Chan, Principal of TK

Friends and fellow Singaporeans

1               I am indeed happy to join you in this evening’s celebrations.  Over the last 50 years, Tanjong Katong Secondary School (TK) has grown and matured.  I warmly congratulate TK on its 50^th Anniversary.

2            Last year, TK became an autonomous school.  This is a testimony of your school’s ability and commitment to deliver quality education and nurture your students into responsible and productive citizens, contributing their best to Singapore.  For example, your alumnus, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, is the Minister for Environment and Water Resources.  Another old boy, Kishore Mahbubani, is Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.  He was Singapore’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations.  Your collective achievements have built for TK a history which you can be proud of.

3            This evening, I want to talk briefly about the importance of understanding independent Singapore’s short history in the context of our globalised future.

4            In the short span of 41 years, we have built on Singapore’s position as an entrepôt port to become a manufacturing base for MNCs, an aviation and transport hub, a regional financial centre, a laboratory for Research and Development, and an educational centre of excellence - to name but a few of our achievements.

5            The Singapore we now live in is globally connected.  It is an open world, with easy transport, communication and access to information.  In such a world, more and more Singaporeans will be on the move - studying in a foreign university, working in a high-paying overseas job, searching for business opportunities abroad and certainly travelling to exotic corners of the world which our parents have never even heard of.

6            Singapore itself is becoming a more open, cosmopolitan society.  Not only is it teeming with tourists but 1 in 5 persons living here is a non-resident.  The Singapore make-up is rapidly changing.  More Singaporeans are marrying foreigners - some to foreigners of the same race, others to foreigners of a different race.  Will their children remain Singaporeans or will we lose them to another country?  How do we make them feel and want to be Singaporean?

7            This question should also be asked of the many young and bright Singaporeans who go overseas to study.  After graduating, many remain overseas to work, attracted by the opportunities in London, New York and Shanghai.  Some become global workers and stay abroad for many years.

8            More and more Singaporeans are also heading overseas to take advantage of the opportunities in Asia, the Middle East and beyond.  I have just visited Italy and Slovakia to strengthen our political and economic ties.  I was pleasantly surprised that there was already one Singapore company operating in Slovakia.  In fact, while I was there, my officials met a small group of Singapore businessmen who went there on their own to check out the opportunities.

9            These developments will lead to an increase of the Singapore Diaspora.  Will Singaporeans who go overseas gradually lose their sense of identification with Singapore?  While we encourage Singaporeans to go out to tap the opportunities, we also want them to remain emotionally rooted to Singapore and eventually return home.

10          To do so, we must nurture in Singaporeans a “homing instinct”.  In the animal world, many have the “homing instinct” programmed into their DNA.  Turtles, for instance, return to the beach where they were hatched after spending more than twenty years at sea.  There, they lay eggs to produce the next generation.  Migratory birds, too, are known for their “homing instinct”.

11          Do human beings have this “homing instinct” in their DNA?      Americans generally take great pride in their country.  Even when they are overseas, they feel “American” and most eventually return to their home in America.  The Japanese, Indians and Koreans, too, maintain strong links to their homeland whilst overseas.

12          But Singapore is an immigrant society.  Our forefathers came from elsewhere and settled in Singapore.  They built today’s Singapore.  Singapore is a new nation but with a growing brand name.  This brand name and our huge investments in education and training make Singaporeans highly mobile and sought-after by global companies.

13          How do we imprint the “homing instinct” in the DNA of Singaporeans so that they feel Singaporean wherever they may be?  And better still, head home whenever they can.  The key is a tightly-knit family.  But there are many other factors which contribute to the “homing instinct” such as nostalgic memories of our school days, teachers who shaped our lives and classmates we grew up with, and pride in our school and country.

14            Here, let me talk a little about pride in our country.  Our independent history may be short, but we have achieved much which we can be proud of – particularly our values and our maturing sense of identity.  Singaporeans’ “homing instinct” will be enhanced if we have a deeper sense of our past and an appreciation of the people who left a lasting mark on our history.

15            Unlike developed countries with a long history, Singapore does not have many old magnificent cathedrals, buildings, paintings, sculptures, music and literature which capture a past golden age.  Having just come back from Rome, Florence, Vienna and Bratislava, I know the power of these icons in instilling pride in Italians, Austrians and Slovaks.

16            But ironically, even though our history is short, many Singaporeans do not know it well.  Dr Goh Keng Swee once remarked that “one of the more notable character traits of the Singaporean is his unconcern for the history of his country”.  He was speaking in 1969 at the opening of an exhibition to celebrate Singapore’s 150 years of development.  Dr Goh, as some younger Singaporeans may not know, is one of the principal architects of modern Singapore.  Has the situation changed?  Do Singaporeans today show a greater interest in our history?

17            Over the past two years, we lost, in quick succession, several of our first-generation leaders - former Presidents Wee Kim Wee and Devan Nair, our first Foreign Minister S Rajaratnam, and Lim Kim San who gave us a better life through the public housing programme.  Many Singaporeans felt a genuine loss each time a member of the founding generation passed away.  They felt a tinge of regret at how little they knew of the contributions made by these first-generation leaders.  Many students, for instance, did not know the author of the pledge they recite everyday.

18            The Government is partly to blame for this state of affairs.  The leaders did not believe in glorifying their place in history.  They did not name streets, MRT stations, buildings, stadiums and parks after their colleagues who had departed.  I think we should do so from now on so that Singaporeans can remember the pioneers, philanthropists, social workers, leaders and others who had made a difference to the lives of Singaporeans.  This will make the history of our nation alive for Singaporeans.

19            As nurseries for young minds, our schools play an important role in helping our young remember and understand the past.  If we do this well, the next generation will better appreciate what it means to be Singaporean and why Singapore is home.  This will help to imprint the “homing instinct” in the DNA of Singaporeans.

20            I am glad that the Ministry of Education and our schools have taken active steps in this direction.  Since 2005, MOE has introduced revised History and Social Studies syllabi to give greater coverage on the roles and contributions of first-generation leaders.  Schools are also experimenting with innovative and interactive teaching methods.  I am told that TK will be organising National Education talks for its upper secondary students, where successful alumni will share their experience on aspects of nation-building.  I encourage your students to use this opportunity to probe and learn from your alumni speakers.  It is often the stories told by people you know or can relate to that make history real and relevant.

21            Ultimately, interest in history cannot be driven by the Government or MOE.  What we must do is to try to light a spark in young Singaporeans so that they are excited about our nation’s past and want to understand what we have been through, how we got here and what we stand for.  Knowing our history is critical to securing our future.  A people who do not know their past will lose their future.

Conclusion

22             I would like to end by reading a poem MOE sent me.  It is written by Nur Fahana bte Abdul Halim, a Primary Six student from Meridian Primary School.  It is not just a touching tribute to Mr S Rajaratnam but also reminds us of the importance of knowing the people who made our history.  The poem is entitled “In Loving Memory of Mr S Rajaratnam”. 

23              I wish you a pleasant evening.  Thank you.